The first funeral for one of the 10 people killed in a
racist attack in buffalo New York last weekend is set
to take place today. More funerals will be held over
the next few days and now the FBI says it has completed
collecting evidence at the supermarket and plans to
prosecute the shooting as a hate crime. We are
determined to hold the person responsible for this
horrific attack accountable and our work to collect
evidence as a critical part of that effort. We only
have one chance to get it right and we owe it to the
victims of this tragedy and the families and to this
community to get this case right federally. We are
investigating this as, as both a hate crime and as a
case of racially motivated motivated violent ext
at the same time. Same time, Irie County authorit
are pursuing state charges. The full weight of the FBI
and all federal state and local partners is behind this
investigation joining us now to discuss the latest is
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown Mayor Brown, thank you so
much for your time this morning. I know it's a very
difficult time for your community. You are attending
the funeral this weekend, sadly it will be the first
of several. How is the entire city responding to this
tragedy? The city has been in shock. It's uh, been
filled with with anger, uh, grief pain. Uh, people
though are coming together. Buffalo is known as the
city of good neighbors nationally and intern
Uh, we've wrapped our arms around the families of the
victims of this racially motivated mass shooting and
we're leaning on each other, holding each other up and
trying to stay strong as a community. Buffalo is a
strong community. We are grieving, but we will get
through this. Yeah. And as we mentioned, while, while
you are getting through this and grieving the FBI has
said it's it's done collecting evidence at the
supermarket. So what are they telling you about the
state of the investigation at this point? So law
enforcement at every level has done a great job. Uh
Federal law enforcement, state Buffalo Police, Erie
County Sheriff's evidence collection has been concluded
at the tops supermarket inside the supermarket, which
is good because it will give tops the opportunity to
get back in uh, and do the work that they need to do to
reopen the market as quickly as possible after being
remodeled. So very happy about that development. I know
that law enforcement at every level uh, is pursuing
every single angle, looking for every bit of
information in this case. I've been very pleased with
how law enforcement has worked together in a
coordinated and collaborative fashion. Um, and uh,
looking for justice, certainly for the victims and for
the families and for the community in this case. Mr
Mayor, I want to talk about the issue of access to food
now with this restaurant or this grocery store shut
down the east side of buffalo has been considered a
food desert for years. The closure of this supermarket
is only making it worse. You are actually partial
responsible for getting that top supermarket back into
the neighborhood. What is your office doing to address
this issue? It was very responsible for getting th
supermarket into the neighborho Almost 20 years ago
when I was the district council member for the area. Uh
The corporate community did not want to invest in the
inner city of Buffalo. We have real difficulty getting
a market to come in. I must have reached out to um a
dozen supermarket chains uh in the city region. And and
Northeast is the only one we could get to step forward
was tops tops now is providing transportation. Uh
other top supermarkets in their network for customers
who don't have access to vehicles to be able to
purchase their groceries. There's also a pharmacy
inside the supermarket. And tops has been working with
the community and making sure um people are able to
fill their prescriptions and get the medications that
they need uh delivering those uh filled prescriptions.
Uh two homes in the neighborhood. Uh there have bee
number of agencies that do food distribution uh that
have been providing food to residents of the community.
Uh The outpouring of support has been absolutely
incredible people in the city people in the region and
people from across the country making donations to mak
sure that the needs of the people in the surrounding
tops community are provided for. And just yesterday uh
my office had a personal care item uh, donation where a
number of businesses, number of individuals provided
personal care items for residents in the affected area
of our community, one of the other major supermarket
chains in the city. Uh, Wegmans brought a truckload of
personal care items that can be distributed to
residents. So we are going to provide for the needs of
the residents in this area. Yes. Before this tops
coming in, the area was considered a food desert and we
are not going to let this part of the community go back
to that distinction again. Yeah, that's great to hear
everyone working together to make sure people get that
access that they need. Um, now, talking a little bit
about what happened this weekend. One study finds
buffalo is among the top 10 most segregated cities in
the country. It's very clear now that the shooter
targeted tops because it's in a predominantly black
neighborhood. I know you've spo out a lot about the
issue of people getting guns and gun control. How, how
else do you plan to address the segregation issue a
unify the community. We have a goal of 40% affordable
housing in the city of Buffalo, permanently afforda
housing. We're already at about 25%. And we see
building a city of opportunity where people who are um,
uh, Who require workforce housing, middle-incom
housing and upper-income housin can live in close
proximity to each other throughout the city of Buffalo.
During my tenure in office, there's been over 3500
units of affordable housing uh, that has been built in
the city of Buffalo. We have a massive new workforce
training center on the east side of Buffalo that is a
partnership between the state o new york and the city
of Buffalo. Over 100 and $50 million of investment in
the Northland Corridor and Buffalo's east side, largely
an African American community that is providing
training for people in advanced manufacturing and gree
technology. Already, graduates of that program Are
earning between $35,000 a year and upwards of $75,000 a
year. So we have a number of initiatives uh, to uh
provide employment and training opportunities, uh,
living wage, family sustaining jobs, uh, and to build
housing throughout the city of Buffalo. Mayor Brown,
you were able to speak with President Biden during his
visit earlier this week to Buffalo. What type of impact
did his visit leave on you and your community? Uh, the
president was very compassionat He spent an extended
amount of time uh, with the victims of this uh,
racially motivated mass shootin uh, in our city. Uh,
it was heartwarming to see the president and first lady
spend such an extended period of time one on one uh,
with families that really lifted the community. Uh, the
president talked about sensible gun control. Uh, we
talked about, um, uh, reining in the proliferation of
hate through social media, uh, the indoctrination of
people in white supremacy and other forms of hate and
social media. I talked to the president about the needs
of, of resources in the city of Buffalo and in
particular this affected area of our city. Uh, this
mass shooting was an act of terror. It's been called an
act of domestic terrorism. Uh, there needs to be
resources for people to begin to recover. Um, families
have been broken. Members of the community have been
traumatized and just like when there is a disaster. Uh,
and FEMA comes in, the federal Emergency Managemen
Agency, hurricane tornado. Uh, there is federal funding
that comes in to address the disaster. This has been a
disaster for this neighborhood in the city of Buffalo.
It's been a disaster for the people of Buffalo and we
need significant federal resources to address the
specific needs and concerns of the families of the
victims, the witnesses, uh, the neighborhood to recover
from this terrible domestic terrorism attack on our
community. Well put, and if there's one thing that's
really stood out from talking to survivors of the
shooting in buffalo, It's just the resilience of that
community and how you all are coming together is very
inspiring. Byron Brown, mayor of Buffalo New York.
Thank you so much for your time this morning. We real
appreciate you coming on. Thank you. Thank you very
much deacon. Heyward Patterson will be laid to rest
today. Services will get underway at 11 o'clock this
morning. He's remembered as a beloved son, brother and,
above all, a loving father.